Jaeil Jahan: Of My Blood Trilogy Book One
by Shekiah and Alunaer
Summary: Jaeil Jahan, eldest daughter of King Ganondorf, is exiled from the Gerudo Fortress for false murder charges. But when she meets up with Link, the tide may change for Hyrule. ON HIATUS. I know I haven't updated for a year. BAD ALU. BAD. UPDATE.
1. I'm No Murderess

_Jaeil Jahan_

_ Of My Blood_ Book One

_ Jaeil Jahan_ By Alunaer

_Of My Blood Trilogy_ by Shekiah and Alunaer

DISCLAIMER: _I do not own, completely or in part, The Legend of Zelda series. This belongs exclusively to Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo. Wish I  
did though . . . oh well. Can't have everything in life . . . oh, and a  
reference to The Phantom Tollbooth is made here_.

* * *

Chapter One: _Eeeeehhhhh . . ._

* * *

_The moonlight was eerie and cold. A few dozen stars scattered themselves across the black void of the night sky. Their light reflected off the high walls of Hyrule's lonely ranch. Lon Lon Ranch, home of the famous Lon Lon Milk.  
  
If you looked closely at the wall, you could see a slight shadow was constantly moving. However, look even closer and you would see the outline of a small girl, whose long red hair clashed vibrantly with the night shadows.  
  
She was inching towards the top of the wall, which was protected by tall stone pikes whose spaces were purposely thin so that an adult Hylian could not pass. However, we are looking at a Gerudo child, the famous all-female bandits that roamed Hyrule Field, fleecing anyone stupid enough to travel unarmed and crushing any resistance.  
  
Slowly, so as not to lose her place, the girl grabbed at a space between the pikes. With a low grunt, she hoisted herself up into the crack and swung nimbly onto the ground inside the complex . . .  
  
Actually, that is how it was supposed to go. What really happened was this . . .  
_  
---------  
  
"Ah, crud. What do I do now?"  
  
Jaeil Jahan Dragmire, thirteen-year-old Gerudo princess, was stuck. Everything above her waist was clear of the wall, but her lower half was hanging outside the ranch's eastern wall. It was quite a long drop from up here to the ground (thank the Goddesses that Jaeil wasn't afraid of heights), and she was not about to slip from the top and fall on her thieving behind. Jaeil groaned and kicked the wall. That being said, she didn't manage to do anything except acquire something else to groan about. The decorative neck-and-shoulder guard piece she was wearing (which was meant for her to wear when she actually grew taller than four and a half feet; as such, it was much too wide for her now) didn't help any, either.  
  
After several minutes of frantic kicking and struggling, Jaeil collapsed and smacked her forehead into the wall. "_Damn_," she cursed viciously. This was really beginning to get on her nerves, and she was hot-blooded and impatient by nature. Jaeil looked down at the ground again. She wasn't unduly worried.  
  
She just prayed fervently to the Goddesses that nobody on either sides of the wall looked up.  
  
---------  
  
Finally, Jaeil found the solution. By twisting her body so that she was lying on her side, she was able to slip through the bars. There was, however, one factor she had forgotten about . . .  
  
The drop.  
  
Jaeil fell nearly forty feet onto her back. Besides the new pain, she was also covered in horse crap.  
  
"Crud _again_." Jaeil paused for a moment, brushing off the muck, as she realized the irony of this statement. She scowled. Not funny.  
  
Even covered in horse dookie, however, Jaeil was astonishingly quick. Vaulting over the closed gates, she sprinted towards the corral. A few soft whickers and snorts told her that there were still at least five horses in there—maybe even more. Jaeil smiled. This, she thought, is my lucky day. I come for horses and I have horses. It's like a buffet. Still smiling, she clambered over the wall and landed without a sound inside the pen.  
  
Her estimate had been correct; there were, in fact, five horses running free. However, there were also seven more mounted warhorses with their silent riders perched upon them. Jaeil's mouth went dry. _What the . . . ?_  
  
Her confusion was cut short as the riders moved to surround her. Jaeil looked from masked face to masked face, searching for a way out. Unfortunately, there was none to be had. The would-be thief decided that this called for drastic measures.  
  
Jaeil threw herself at a smaller horse, putting all her weight and strength behind it. Her body crashed into its left foreleg; there was a nasty crack and the horse screamed. It bucked wildly, thereby injuring itself more, but the real misfortune came to the rider. When the horse bucked, the rider was thrown forwards and crashed headlong into the wall. Jaeil grimaced. "That's gonna hurt in the morning . . . "  
  
Further comments were stalled as two horses broke the ring. Their riders reached out to grab Jaeil but were eluded. Eventually, all but one rider had been thrown into the walls when Jaeil had used herself as a battering ram. The remaining rider dismounted and circled Jaeil warily.  
  
A thunder of hoofs broke the silence, except for the whining horses. Eight more riders thundered into the ring and skidded to a stop before the Gerudo princess and her opponent. Slowly, they dismounted. One of them, an impossibly tall rider, stepped forward and lifted off their black helmet. Blazing amber eyes stared Jaeil down.  
  
_"What in the name of King Ganondorf were you doing just now?"  
_  
A stern voice, sharp and commanding, snapped out the question. Jaeil's eyes widened in fear; this was her all-powerful cousin Damare, her elder by ten years. Her response came out a squeak, albeit a somewhat dignified one. "Hey, I'm a thief. What do you think I was doing here?"  
  
Damare rolled her eyes and snapped, "Do you realize what you've _done_?"  
  
"Yes. I broke the legs of several horses (nearly killing myself in the process) and their riders were bucked off. They are now unconscious—"  
  
"Dead."  
  
Jaeil paused in the middle of a word, her eyes taking in the scene around her. Some of them had skidded in the dirt and ran headfirst into the walls. Jaeil swallowed numbly; she could see trickles of blood smeared on the walls and the ground.  
  
"Ah. I see your point." The last line came out a faint whisper.  
  
Damare glared. "You'd better, Jaeil. If I don't see you back at the archery range in six minutes—" Damare paused for effect. "—you're dead."  
  
Jaeil snapped up indignantly. "Don't even try to talk to me like that, Damare!"  
  
"Watch me," the tall woman snarled. She was about to say something else when a ranch hand came in to clean the horse stalls. Seeing the large group ahead of him, he was about to yell for the ranch owner when Damare drew a dagger and casually threw it over her shoulder. It flew the distance to the ranch hand and buried itself up to the hilt in the man's throat. Gargling, he fell over and landed, dead, with a soft phlump on the grass.  
  
Damare turned and swiftly swung herself onto her horse's saddle. With a signal, the rest of the group gathered all the bodies and thundered out of the ranch, leaving a bewildered Jaeil alone. Grumbling, she grabbed a slight black mare's halter and swung onto her back. However, there was one little problem . . .  
  
She had no saddle. Moreover, Jaeil absolutely could _not_ ride bareback without disastrous results.  
  
She barely had time for a muffled curse before the mare took off after the others that had left.  
  
---------  
  
The meeting on the target range was saturated with horror. After it was all over, Jaeil walked away in a daze. Back towards the central compound, one of her friends, a lightning-fast girl named Yarael, caught up with her. Apprehensively, she asked, "So . . . how did your hearing go?"  
  
"Heard about that, did you?" Jaeil asked bitterly.  
  
Yarael's face was concerned. "It didn't go so well, eh?"  
  
"Couldn't have been worse."  
  
Yarael nodded sympathetically. "I heard Damare yelling at you all the way across the compound. Damn near made my eardrums shrivel up and fall out." She grinned wolfishly. Jaeil smiled, imagining everyone within a hundred- mile radius falling to his or her knees and writhing in pain. Yarael broke into her thoughts as she pressed on; "So, how DID it go? From your point of view, I mean."  
  
Jaeil retold the story; how she had come up to the grounds, how a committee had been waiting for her . . .  
  
And how she had been charged . . . of murder. Apparently, the seven riders had been sent to bring her back before she set off the booby trap that they had planted, and she had fought them. Six had died—the sisters Darein, Mharea, and Kaerha, the cousins Kaora and Vareyn, and finally, the orphan Zaneiri. The last name had been a shock to Jaeil; Zaneiri was her very first and very best friend, hardly fourteen.  
  
She had killed them all. However unintentional that might have been, the court still convicted her of murder. Maybe that was because the leader of the group was a sharp, thin-nosed woman named Arenth. A year ago, Jaeil had accidentally dumped the entire cauldron of stewed gakkow onto her head. Besides lunch being ruined, Arenth had to throw away her favorite jacket; no amount of dry-cleaning was going to get it clean again.  
  
"I found that murder charge extremely unfair. Let's review; it was close to 1 AM and they were wearing masks and hoods, so _how in the Goddesses' names was I supposed to effing know_?"  
  
"Beats me."  
  
Jaeil nodded curtly. "Thank you. But now they're deciding on my _sentence_."  
  
"How about, 'I am'? That's a short sentence . . ." Yarael's feeble attempt to make light of and joke about the situation was lost on her friend. Finally, Yarael snapped.  
  
"Come on. They'll probably just have you work your butt off at the Colossus for few months and then something else. I mean, it is you and all, and your da' is going to be rather displeased if you died while doing your penance."  
  
"That isn't the half of it." Jaeil's father, the great Ganondorf, doted on his children (well, the ones that he actually _noticed_ . . .). Jaeil happened to be the eldest of all of her half-siblings, and so she was highest favored and she knew it (but just because her father favored her didn't mean she didn't have to work at all; Jaeil's had her fair share of scrubbing pots and sweeping out the whole Colossus too). This didn't exactly help her when jealous siblings' parents attempted to poison her, though.  
  
The two friends walked towards the central compound, where breakfast was most likely being served. Jaeil inhaled deeply through her nose as a delicious, slightly spicy aroma wafted by. "Smell that?" she whispered. Yarael sniffed the air.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Jaeil grinned. "Bet you five Rupees that it's stewed gakkow and spiced with firepepper."  
  
Yarael grinned. "You're on! I say that it's spiced noodles and meat pie!"  
  
The two girls, giggling and raising the stakes, waltzed into the central room. By the time they reached the food line, the money had risen to forty- five Rupees. Curiously, they peeked into the big pot. Long, crispy noodles sprinkled with a red, powdery spice were boiling in the huge vat, and small, doughy pies oozing sauce were sitting beside the pot. Yarael grinned triumphantly. "BWAHAHA! I _WIN_! Where's my money, pince-nez?"  
  
Jaeil grumbled, digging in her seemingly endless pockets for a fifty-rupee piece. Handing it to Yarael, who tossed a five-rupee bit back to Jaeil, she said under her breath, "Call me pince-nez again and I'll set Nabooru on you. I don't walk around pinching people's noses. My step-grandmothers do that." Yarael merely smiled wider.  
  
They managed to find an unoccupied table squashed in the corner to eat. News of Jaeil's hearing had obviously gotten around, because she heard snatches of her name in everyone's conversations. Yarael must have noticed, too, because she shot a sympathetic look towards Jaeil. The Gerudo princess was staring at her food as thought she could command it to fly across the room and hit some offending people in their lying faces.  
  
Yarael poked her friend's shoulder fearfully. Irritably, Jaeil looked up. "What?"  
  
Yarael was too scared to answer. Instead, she pointed to the entryway.  
  
Six guards, holding sharpened spears, flanked the door. One of them walked over to where the two frightened girls were sitting and trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.  
  
The tall woman loomed threateningly over Jaeil and Yarael. Looking down at Jaeil, she motioned for her to follow. Turning, she marched back to the other guards and waited.  
  
Jaeil rose shakily. Yarael mouthed a silent 'bye' as Jaeil was swiftly herded out the door.  
  
---------  
  
Back at the target range, the same committee was present. Apparently, they had reached a decision. Arenth, the Gerudo who so detested Jaeil, rose and voiced her verdict.  
  
"Princess Jaeil Jahan, daughter of the great Ganondorf, we have reached a decision. We have reviewed the evidence testifying against you, which stands thus . . ."  
  
Arenth sat, and another, younger woman rose. Jaeil recognized Damare's sister, her other cousin Teiya. Jaeil had never cared for this cousin much; Teiya had a snobby, whining voice and thought she was better than everyone else was.  
  
Jaeil's dislike was multiplied by a tenfold as Teiya began to read the charges.  
  
"Charge One: Failing to submit to the wishes of a guard team. Charge Two: Injuring six prize warhorses. Charge Three—" Teiya's eyes glimmered maliciously. "—killing six members of the guard team intent on your personal safety.  
  
"As such, we have deemed that the appropriate punishment is . . ." Teiya paused for a moment, relishing her duty. Jaeil glanced at the sky and prayed for a year of cleaning the Colossus, or a year of kitchen duty, or . . .  
  
"Exile."  
  
Jaeil's mouth dropped open. _Exile? What the hell are they thinking?  
_  
The Gerudo princess was beginning to feel the cold fear snaking through her. A month, or even half a year, out of the fortress was fine, but they weren't permanent.  
  
Jaeil decided to accept this decision with grace, but instead blurted out, "WHAT?"  
  
Teiya smiled coldly. "A life for a life." She paused. "Well . . . sort of."  
  
Jaeil was so paralyzed with fear that she could only nod. Walking away, she heard a low murmur of voices. Damare caught up with her. Looking up, Jaeil could see true sorrow in her eyes. Damare spoke softly, as if afraid of being overheard—"Listen. We're going to lead you off the bridge tomorrow. If you can, smuggle as many weapons as possible out—I don't want you unarmed. Later, if you see any of our patrols while you're out there, stay out of sight. A few here'd like nothing better than to trample you accidentally."  
  
Jaeil looked at fierce-faced Damare for a moment. "Why are telling me all of this?" she demanded. Damare had never cared much for her ten-year- younger cousin.  
  
Damare breathed in. "You're the only one who's shown me a hint of respect around here, even though you're a few seats higher up than me. Everyone else calls me 'the kid commander' and makes wisecracks about it. You don't."  
  
Damare ended this by looking far off into the distance. Suddenly, she looked back at Jaeil. "You'd better pack," she said. "I'm not going to be responsible when you get killed because you were unarmed." Without another word, she raced across the sands and into the Gerudo Training Ground, leaving Jaeil staring after her.  
  
---------  
  
Jaeil was led out of her quarters early the next morning. Jaeil had been up even earlier to sneak into the armory, and she was quivering with nervousness as the long, beautiful dagger slapped against her leg, secured with a long piece of cord.  
  
Four guards on horseback led her to the bridge. They had assigned her the horse that she had stolen from the ranch two nights before, outfitted with a lightweight black saddle and matching war bridle. As the bridge was cranked up, they signaled for her to dismount and walk across the bridge. Jaeil made no move to do so.  
  
_Clang!_  
  
The bridge completed its rise and Jaeil bolted across the bridge with the horse. Two of the riders made a move to follow, intending to retrieve her mount, but Damare stopped them. "Leave her. The horse will be in good hands."  
  
The two guards turned to question her order, but Damare was already heading back to the compound. Looking over towards the place where Jaeil had gone, they merely shrugged and trotted after their leader. 

* * *

__

_What will happen to Jaeil? You can only find out if you read the next chapter!_


	2. Grass and a Green Boy

  
  
NOTE FROM ALUNAER:  
  
That last chapter was kind of long. There was a lot to fit in. To refresh your memory . . . go read the chapter again in you forgot! :p Ehehe . . . anyways. This chapter is a little filler-in-thingeh about Jaeil's life during Hyrule Field. However, what happens when she meets our hero (no, this story is NOT a romancey Mary-Sue! There is NO romance in this story)? Find out!

* * *

Chapter Two: Grass and A Green Boy

* * *

Jaeil rode hard.  
  
She didn't know where she was headed. She just knew she had to get away from the place she used to call home.  
  
It was nearly dark when Jaeil pulled the mare up short beside a stream. After chasing round Hyrule Field all day, not knowing what to do, the little mare deserved a drink at the very least. Jaeil stroked the mare's long neck. "What do we name you, then?" Jaeil asked, more to herself than the beast. She sat by the stream, watching her horse drink ravenously at the stream, occasionally blowing bubbles in her direction. Jaeil smiled, looking over at the animal. Her coat was silky smooth and blacker than the night sky. Some parts of her flanks were so black that they gave off a deep blue light.  
  
Jaeil sat up sharply as a name came to her. It seemed to have been spoken by a voice; warm, mellow and full of music.  
  
_Syrilee._  
  
Jaeil smiled. Syrilee was the name of the black, winged mare that pulled the chariot of the Mistress of the Night, the one whom the Goddesses had appointed to guard the stars in the old Gerudo legends. Syrilee pulled the chariot of stardust with her mistress in it, drawing the Veil of Night across the sky, pulling the Moon from her resting place and telling the Sun that it was time to sleep.  
  
It seemed fitting for a mare of her color, Jaeil decided. She smiled again, standing and walking over to the newly named Syrilee. The mare had stopped drinking and looked at Jaeil with her large, black eyes. Intelligence and understanding radiated from them. Jaeil hugged her warm neck, resting her cheek on the mare's own.  
  
She had found a friend in the world outside.  
  
---------  
  
Things went on quite uneventfully for two years. In fact, sometimes Jaeil became so bored that she would have _welcomed_ a Stalchild attack. The only action she got was hiding and running from search parties, Hylian and Gerudo alike.  
  
Jaeil had built a little encampment right beside the rushing waters of Zora's River. She had spent many a night digging the large hole and planting the wood firmly into place until she had a small, comfortable room. On cold nights, she would sleep inside the hovel, and on warm ones, she would snooze beneath the starlight, becoming instantly awake at any unfamiliar smell, touch, or heavy vibration in the ground. One of these instances was when a Gerudo hunting party was riding nearby. Jaeil, who had been sleeping soundly beside a riverbed, felt the trampling of hooves and bolted upright, left hand clutching at her dagger. Their loud voices, which they made no effort to disguise, woke Jaeil up rather quickly.  
  
_Thud! Thud! Thud!_ The hoof beats were growing louder. Syrilee whickered and pawed the ground. Jaeil rose silently to her feet, taking Syrilee's jaw rope and leading her to the cover of a few nearby trees. Jaeil was about to turn and run when she heard Damare's distinct voice.  
  
"Listen, all of you. If the Princess was still alive, then we would have found a trace of her presence. She was always a dunderhead when it came to hiding her tracks. We should know; how else were we able to find her in the ranch? There was no trace of the slain guards, but there were plenty of bruised leaves and scuffs in the dirt. A piece of her leggings had torn off as well, too."  
  
Another spoke. "So you say, Damare. She was always an excellent hider, just not very clean about it. If Jaeil didn't want to be found, she was never found until she revealed herself. You could track her right to her hiding spot and not find her. I know from experience that that sneaky little rat of a Princess can . . . " The woman continued speaking, but Jaeil didn't listen. Her stomach lurched with horror as she recognized the voice;  
  
_Arenth. Oh, Goddesses above, please, please, **please** don't let them find me!_ But it seemed that the Goddesses' minds were elsewhere; the team was nearing her hiding spot and there was nowhere to run without risking exposure. In desperation, she threw her prized dagger, twisting her arm so that it would appear to have come from a more westerly direction.  
  
The dagger curved sharply, cutting a cruel gash in Arenth's arm and burying itself in the dirt. Quickly, the team wheeled and headed west after snatching up the dagger, Arenth staunching the blood flow with the torn sleeve of her cloak. Jaeil cursed mentally; there went her weapon.  
  
Damare lingered on her mount, surveying the general area. She spotted the dense bush thickets where Jaeil hid, her piercing amber eyes that were trademark to the Gerudo women seeming to look past the foliage. Jaeil looked up and locked her gaze with Damare for a moment.  
  
Damare narrowed her eyes and turned, following the rest of the band. As she passed over the hill, she dropped a bag. Jaeil's curiosity was peaked as she watched her disappear.  
  
It was not until mid-day had settled that Jaeil allowed herself to emerge. Snatching the bag, she fetched Syrilee and rode back to her camp.  
  
Reaching into the bag, Jaeil felt dried meat and fruit. Obviously, they were a few of Damare's survival rations. Beneath the food, she felt a scrap of paper. There was a note hurriedly scrawled on the coarse parchment.  
  
_Jaeil, if you're still alive;  
  
Writing this while on night shift. I can't say much. How are you? I'm in a tight position here, seeing as I brought you back to base after you-know-what happened.  
  
Two years seems like a decade, doesn't it? Well, I'll give you a filler-in. Ever since you left, your dad's been in a thunderous mood. He rages and throws things, much like you do when you're mad, cursing Arenth, Teiya and the rest of the committee with the wrath of the Goddesses. I bet Din herself couldn't get madder.  
  
Oh, and one more thing . . . your friend, Yarael what's-her-face . . . she's run away. She went to find you and I haven't heard from her since. Is she with you? If not, hope she's all right.  
  
Just stick to the plan; eat, sleep and watch. I'm working to prove your innocence, but there's a plot somewheres. I have to pretend that I'm searching for you to kill you, or else I'm the one who'll be killed. Bang! There goes your free ticket out of exile.  
  
Your dad can't even overrule the Council; the Twinrovas Koume and Kotake, your step-grandmothers, are backing them and you know how the King is about them . . . crud. Can't say anymore here; Nabooru is trying to read over my shoulder. Gotta go!  
  
Oh . . . happy birthday for whenever you celebrate it. Sorry I can't tell you in person.  
  
Best, Damare  
_  
Jaeil slowly folded up the note, putting it back in the sack, wiping a tear away. She silently thanked Damare for the news, but now she was worried. What had happened to Yarael? The girl couldn't track if her life depended on it and she could hardly lift a standard-issue sword, let alone fight with one; her only advantage was speed. Yarael was the fastest message-runner in the Fortress; she could take and bring back a message in half the time it took Damare to deliver one. And _that_ is saying something.  
  
Tossing the bag into her little burrow, Jaeil rolled onto her back, staring at the stars. The night was warm and humid, smelling of summer. Syrilee whickered softly, nuzzling Jaeil's cheek. The ex-princess reached up and stroked the mare's fuzzy snout before closing her eyes. Soon, Jaeil's breathing grew deep as she slept lightly. Syrilee trotted away from her mistress, staring into the sky. The starlight rebounded in the mare's wise eyes, and she stood motionless for a moment. Then she trotted back, folding her legs under her. Making a kind of wall around Jaeil as if to shield her, Syrilee bowed her head and slowly closed her dark eyes and she, too, slept lightly, ears pricked and listening even in slumber.  
  
--------  
  
Jaeil's birthdays were celebrated quietly by Syrilee and herself. The mornings were always rosy and the weather just right for adventuring, so on these days, Jaeil would take Syrilee to an unexplored area of Hyrule. Something odd would always happen on her birthday, too, but it was always welcome.  
  
On the dawn of her fifteenth year, a ball of blue fire streaked across the sky and landed not too far off from Jaeil. Her eyes flew open and she leaped to her feet, swinging herself onto Syrilee's back. The horse reared and took off, Jaeil steering her towards the spot. A glowing pit banked sharply down at the site of landing.  
  
Pulling Syrilee up short, Jaeil cautiously dismounted and peered into the small crater. A deep blue glow pulsated in its depths, and Jaeil jumped in, just managing to keep her footing as she slid sharply down.  
  
A beautiful sword-like dagger with a green pommel stone stuck point-first into the ground. Her eyes grew wide; this was a weapon of true power. The air seemed to hum as she reached out for it. When her fingertips came into contact with the hilt, it whistled slightly and a flash blinded her for a moment. Something burned her hand and she cried out; but then, as her vision cleared, she found herself out of the pit holding the dagger.  
  
Looking it over interestedly, Jaeil saw a message carved into the metal blade. Written in ancient Hylian script, they morphed before her eyes into Gerudo runes that she could read. She passed a hand over the writing; it thrummed under her skin.  
  
_Remember the Princess_ said one side. The words swirled with an intense myriad of color.  
  
Turning it over, an inscription read _Become the Warrior_. Each beautifully executed letter swarmed with bright golden light.  
  
Jaeil stared at the beauty of the blade as she turned it over and over in her hands. She had been brought up around all kinds of weapons, but this blade was an entirely different design. It was an assassin's blade, honed to kill with one strike.  
  
Although Jaeil didn't notice before hesitantly sticking it in her belt, the writing disappeared to make way for line after line of poetry, glowing with the truth of prophecy.  
  
__

_Wielded by one cast out not long ago  
I am a blade of divine get.  
Speak to the wind and see Time's throes  
I tell my own tale of promise and threat.  
  
I tell of what will lie ahead  
But with whichever way, is either your friend?  
I, Blood-sapper, a Blade of Din  
Will show the path to the very end.  
  
Bear the Heart of the First  
Share the Destiny of the Second  
Spill the Blood of the Third  
And with History reckon  
  
But there can only be Three; those who Wield the Divine Force  
And put an End to the Dragon's wrath  
So the Hero's Triumph  
Will End the Last One's Path.  
  
_-----------  
  
Today, Jaeil and Syrilee were going to go explore the Kokiri Forest. No Gerudo had ever been there before, and Jaeil wanted to be the first.  
  
Quietly, the twosome plodded across the precarious bridge. Jaeil could feel the hum of magic in the air. Tiny fairies watched them silently cross.  
  
The bridge creaked under their combined weight, and Jaeil froze. Dismounting, she turned to Syrilee. "You go back now, beauty. Wait outside the tunnel; but please, can you come if I call you, Syrilee?"  
  
The mare's dark eyes were gentle. Syrilee batted Jaeil's hand with her nose before trotting back the way she came. The soft ringing of hoof on wood sounded too loud to Jaeil. She could not suppress a slight shudder as she watched Syrilee traipse out of sight.  
  
Jaeil took a deep breath in. The air was sharp, clean. It seemed . . . _alive_ . . . somehow, too. She lifted her head and gasped; there seemed to be no end to the foliage above her. Sunlight shone down through cracks in the leaves, leaving warm spots on the ground and illuminating the grass. Jaeil stuck her hand in front of a beam and watched as the light danced across her dark honey skin, playing across the fine scars that wove across her palm.  
  
She studied the ground beneath the bridge. It was green and grassy, dotted here and there by small trees. Walls rose up on either side; these were obviously man-made, not something that Nature had created over several thousands of years.  
  
Grass was by now a familiar concept, having spent years away from the sand and heat of the desert. Jaeil swung herself from the bridge and landed softly on all fours. The grass made a soft carpet on the ground, like the plush rugs that littered the sleeping quarters of the guards. Jaeil ran a hand through the small blades, remembering the first time her father had taken her outside the Fortress.  
  
_It was a beautiful clear day, and it was then that Da' had decided to go hunting. He took me, his four-year-old princess, along with him. "We don't spend much time together, Jay-jay," he'd said to me. And it was true. His kingly duties separated him from his children more and more often. I knew him best, so I missed him most. Any chance to be with my father, just the two of us, was one memory that never left, no matter how young I was at the time.  
  
Swinging me up on his prize coal-black warhorse, Thyundhar, he sat me in front of him on the saddle. Grasping the reins firmly in his hand, he gave the horse a slap on the hindquarters and shouted, "Yah!" With a roar like a thunderbolt, the horse took off! I clung to Thyundhar's mane, frightened of falling off.  
  
When we entered Hyrule Field, Father slowed the horse to a trot. Thyundhar took us up a hill and stood at the top. I gasped as I saw the sea of green around me.  
  
Da' dismounted and lifted me off, where I immediately threw off my shoes and catapulted down the hill. At the bottom, I leaped to my feet and dusted grass clippings out of my long red hair. I saw my father at the top of the hill, with the sun behind him. He called for me to come back, but he was laughing.  
  
Climbing back up was a lot harder than going down. When I reached the top, Da' stooped down and grabbed me into a bear hug. In the doing of it, however, he toppled over and we rolled down the hill. Laughing, Da' jumped up again, pulling me to my feet. I fell onto my back, cushioning my head with my arms. Da' sat down beside me. I picked a stalk of grass.  
  
"Da', what's this?" I asked him.  
  
"That's grass, Jaeil. We don't have it in the desert." I nodded seriously.  
  
"Yeah. All we have is sand." I paused. "Did we use to have grass in the desert?"  
  
He sighed. "Yes, Jaeil. But the sun was so strong and so bright that the grass became the sand."  
  
I looked the blade of grass over. It was soft and slightly wet from when I had picked it.  
  
"Da'?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Will this grass become the sand, too?"  
  
Da' was quiet for a moment. He ran his hand through the soft carpet of grass.  
  
"I don't think so. I hope not."  
  
Standing, he scooped me up and put me on his shoulders. From this high vantage point I could see the entire field and further. Da' sighed.  
  
"I love this land, Jay-jay. Don't you?"  
  
"Yeah. It's so pretty." I was seized by a sudden thought. "Why don't we live here? Then Yarael, Zaneiri and me could play in the grass and not get sand in our eyes. And everybody would like the nice sun here."  
  
My father laughed at my naivety. "Because this land doesn't belong to us."  
  
"Does the desert?"  
  
"Yes, Jay-jay. The desert is ours."  
  
"Then . . . why can't we have the grass, too? There's no one else here . . . " I saw no reason why we didn't move here. It was all perfectly clear in my mind.  
  
Da' reached up and took my hand. "Because there are others who have this place. The King of Hyrule does. The Hylian people do. The Zora People do. So do the Goron People and the animals of this land. Sometimes, some of us do live here for a while, but they always have to come back."  
  
I was quiet. My father was leading me to new concepts.  
  
"Oh."  
  
We were both silent for a while, looking out at the vast expanse of green. Then he laughed.  
  
"We were supposed to go hunting today!" Taking me back over to Thyundhar and swinging me onto the saddle, he said, "Come on, I'll show you how to use a crossbow."  
  
We returned to the Fortress victorious with two bags full of Guays and Gakkows that we had shot, six of whom I had felled. Da' ruffled my already mussed ringlets. "You're going to be a warrior of warriors when you grow up, Jay-jay," he said softly. I smiled, hefting the heavy crossbow over my shoulder. I had a feeling that Da' was right.  
_  
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Jaeil smiled, picking a short blade of the jade-green grass and sticking it into her pocket. Straightening up, Jaeil leaped onto a short stump, springing onto a short outcropping. Two log tunnels loomed before her. But before she could decide which one to take, a green-clad boy rushed from the northernmost one and attacked with a yell.  
  
Jaeil met the boy head-on, her long dagger out, parrying each bone-shocking thrust. His strength was extraordinary; her father would have a hard time parrying his blows. But Jaeil met his battle rage with her own; she struck with unbecoming ferocity as sparks played off of their blades.  
  
The green boy was surprised, she could tell. But he was a seasoned fighter, and kept up with her battle dance with surprising intensity. Jaeil found time between a blow to yell, _"Who the hell are you?!"_  
  
"Shouldn't _I_ be the one asking _you_ that?!" he yelled back.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Jaeil spotted several children coming towards them. Both her and green boy ceased fighting as they came up. Jaeil stared for a moment, but it was enough time for her opponent to hit her on the head, none too lightly, with the sword hilt.  
  
Slowly, Jaeil turned around. "Ow. That hurt."  
  
Facing the bridge, she yelled, _"SYRILEE!"_ and collapsed at his feet. The black horse thundered in and made an amazing leap from bridge to ledge. Green boy wasn't sure, but he thought that he saw wings sprout from the horse's back, enabling it to glide over. He shrugged it off as they faded into nothingness.  
  
"Come on. I need you to help me carry her." Green boy held out a hand to the horse. Syrilee batted his hand with her nose before nuzzling Jaeil's cheek. The green-clad boy sighed, hoisting the unconscious Gerudo girl onto her back. Taking Syrilee's bridle, he led her through the maze of tunnels and into the heart of the Kokiri Forest.  
  
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_Ah! So Jaeil's survived those years in exile. Seems a great place to end, so . . . bye! _


End file.
